See also:
Anne McCaffrey interviewed
AM answers the usual questions

The Crystal Singer Series

He writes in The Hugo Winners 1968-1970: "In August 1970 Annie and I were co-guests of honor at a science fiction conference in Toronto. That meant that one certain thing. We had another of our perennial songfest compeitions. We sing at each other very loudly, and finally we work ourselves up to a climax, which is always, "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling". ...While everyone in the audience gets far out to non-winding distance we get louder and higher... At the final note, she takes a deep breath and holds. I do, too, but before the minute is up, I fade, chock, and halt, while that final note of Annie's keeps right on going."

Australian author Dave Luckett tells a story about trying to keep up with her at 2 a.m. in the streets of London.

So it isn't very surprising that her work includes this influence.

The Crystal Singer series takes the 'voice that can shatter glass' idea and uses singers with perfect pitch and technical facilitation to cut special crystals from the Milkey mountains. The singers are well paid, but the cost to them is even higher.

The influence of McCaffrey's love of music is also seen in her Pern series, especially in the Dragonsinger trilogy (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums), and in the character Master Robinton the Masterharper of Pern, who was inspired by a friend of hers. Helva, the ship sings, also, and Anne McCaffrey participated in a collection entitled, Space Opera, a pun, a subject also beloved of McCaffrey (in true science fiction tradition).

The first singer we meet in the Crystal Singer series is Killashandra, a typical McCaffrey heroine, small, fast and quick-tempered.